UK Singer, HRVY, Gets Up Close And Personal With Filipino Fans

When HRVY was 13 years old, the singer from Kent, England recorded his first cover on Facebook. “I used to sing all the time in the car,” HRVY recalls. “My friends said, ‘if you’re gonna sing, then at least do something with it or at least record yourself singing,’ so I did.” Little did he know that it was going to be the key to his success one day. “I started gaining subscribers on Facebook back at the time and then it just kind of slowly took off,” he says.

Today, young teens all over the globe discover their favorite artists through tapping on their phone screens. Many opportunities and talents are being given simply by going viral on social media. In the music industry, 20-year-old Harvey Leigh Cantwell, who now has over four million followers, recently released his new single, “Told You So” under Universal Music.

Sometime in May, MEG had an opportunity to shoot with the singer in our studio. The day of the shoot took place on a blazing summer day in the center of Ortigas Park. Five excited teenagers gathered in our studio, a refreshing sight amidst the heat Manila is giving off. The teenagers—who assembled on the couch—live in far and different cities across the Metro, but they came for one reason; they were going to meet their favorite artist.

It reminded me that not too long ago, I was once in their shoes; a teenage fangirl who couldn’t wait to see her favorite artist in the flesh.

I ask them, “how did you discover Harvey?”

Mikaylah, the fan who interviewed HRVY for our shoot answered, “I was a fan of New Hope Club. My friend figured I would like HRVY too and she was right,” she says.

Finding a new favorite artist is so much easier than it was before. Now, we have Spotify, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and the likes to easily access these aspiring musicians.

Social media paves the way for fame, cutting loose the restrictions of being ‘just famous in one country.’

Remember going to YouTube to discover the One Direction Video Diaries? If you didn’t watch The X Factor UK, you would have still known them because YouTube made it possible for girls to fall in love with the five boys on the stairs. The same thing goes with HRVY.

“I didn’t expect to have fans from, like, across the world,” he says. “How did these people know my song? That’s one thing that I never knew was possible.”

As the shoot with MEG wrapped up, HRVY comes over to the couch where the five teens were huddled together. Getting up close and personal, each of them was able to ask HRVY some questions.

“What keeps you motivated and inspired on being a musician?” A fan asks.

“Doing shows and seeing people’s reactions to being on the show. That about motivates me to wanna do better, do bigger shows, travel to more places,” he answers. “And also social media! Like comments and tweets, and I see people tweeting me stuff, that motivates me as well.”

Aside from HRVY’s success in music, he also has a large following on social media– specifically Instagram. We can see why, though. His charm and hypnotizing green eyes would make you want to click that follow button instantly. HRVY had the four corners tour with The Vamps and New Hope Club. From doing intimate shows, he will be doing arena tours next.

Another fan asks, “Do you prefer doing big shows or intimate shows?”

“I like both for different reasons,” HRVY replies. “Intimate shows are always good because you get to see all these faces and you actually get to like chat to them like on the stage, connect with them, which is like really, really cool. And then also, another side, I love doing big shows because obviously, the energy is insane because it is such a big crowd and there’s so many people in the room and it looks cool as well. So I like them both.”

We’re hoping HRVY comes back to Manila again soon. He mentioned wanting to tour the islands of the Philippines so hopefully, he comes back soon for a bigger show.

Until then, watch out for HRVY’s MEG Looks and Fan Interview with Mikaylah coming this week!